Huge Increase in Arctic shipping

Data from Russia’s ports and Northern Sea Route show that the volume of goods being shipped out into the Arctic waterway are up by 25 percent 2018.

According to information from the Russian Transport Ministry, a total of 92.7 million tons was handled by regional seaports, of which almost 70 percent was oil products and liquified natural gas.

The biggest increases came in Sabetta, which sits on the icy Yamal Peninsula in the Kara Sea, according to Bellona. With Novatek’s $27 billion Yamal LNG project now in commercial production, Sabetta has seen a 130 percent increase in the volume of cargo it handles – up to 17.4 tons for 2018.

Ports in Murmansk alone handled some 60 million tons of cargo in 2018 – an 18.1 percent boost over volumes from the year before. Archangelsk ports saw their volumes grow by 15 percent.

Other key seaports in the Russian north are also experiencing significant growth.

The goods turnover in regional port is reflected in the growing Russian shipping through Arctic waters, said a report in Arctic Today. In 2018, the volumes of goods shipped on the Northern Sea Route amounted to more than 18 million tons.